Gentle Spiders,
I may have asked this one before, you may have replied and I'd
forgotten... Such is life with memory running on "almost empty"
When I was learning English as a kid (all those many years ago), we
were given rules about when/where/how to use which article, because
Polish doesn
Don't know about current usage, but it used to be an hotel (pronouncing the
h), but I can't think of any other words where 'an' precedes a prounounced
'h'.
Some UK accents make deciding what's been said quite difficult when the 'n'
from an tends to be run into the next word. Taking the alumini
I've always had great sympathy for anyone trying to learn English as a
second language. It's such a conglomeration of everything and there seem
to be more exceptions that rules.
There are not too many words that begin with "h" for US English speakers
(it may well be different for UK English) i
I don't know about the rest of the country, but I would use 'a' in front of
history, hispanic and hotel, and I DO pronouce the H. However, I can imagine
people using 'an' if they tend to drop or aspirate the H. I would say that
this rule, as with others in USA grammar, is being slurred. I als
Hello Tamara
Take "history"; it's almost always preceded by "an" when written.
Should I, then, say "an istorical fact"? Same for "hotel". I know the
"h" is silent *in French*, but, should I say "an otel reservation" in
English?
And, yesterday - in an otherwise great book - I got another one:
I, too, think, an hotel is "correct" grammar. I have very, very vague
memories of the explanation why. I think it comes from the French who do not
pronounce the "h". it's l'hotel isn't it? (Question for our French members).
French
was the language of society in this country for a long time.
Okay, according to my grammar book (p131, "Rediscover Grammar", David
Crystal, Longman 1996):
the use of "a" or "an varies before
a few words beginning with "h",
such as "hotel" and "historical". The
latter form is often felt to be old-fashioned.
so there you go
Or not, as the case may be
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmuttonpork.html
At 13:06 15/11/2005, Helen wrote:
Pig, sheep and cow are Anglo-Saxon words which the peasants who
looked after them needed to know. Pork, mutton and beef are Norman
words which the nobles who ate them needed to kn
At 08:19 AM 11/15/05 -, Jean Nathan wrote:
>. . . some accents would sound like "a naluminium foil
>helmet" or "a nempirical study" with short 'a' and very slight pause between
>the 'a' and 'n'.
And all through history, "n" at the beginning of a word has tended to come and
go. A word tha
>
> And all through history, "n" at the beginning of a word has tended to come
and go. A word that begins with a vowel will latch onto the "n" from "an"
and keep it as its own, and people will accuse words that came by their "n"s
honestly of stealing them, and snatch them away.
>
reminds me of my
Dear Tamara,
But, more and more, the "rule" seems to be fraying at the edges, till I'm
worried - more than usual - about opening my mouth in "real life" rather
than in writing...
Take "history"; it's almost always preceded by "an" when written. Should
I, then, say "an istorical fact"? Same f
Dear Brenda and Tamara et al,
To me the criteria is whether I'd say:
"the hotel" or "thee otel";
"the historical " or "thee istostrical "
"teh Hispanic " or "thee ispanic "
In each of these cases I'd pronounce the as thee - to say "the" I'd have
to stress the first syllable inste
Hello Tamara and all
Long time no speak. :)
I use whatever sounds best and easiest to say to me. I don't remember
learning what article goes before anything with an H in school.
My ex is French-Canadian. He has problems pronouncing the H and some of the
words he says is quite amusing. He ca
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